Turn.bio

Turn.bio is a biotech company developing therapies based on epigenetic reprogramming and reverse cellular aging. The company develops mRNA medicines that induce the body to heal itself by instructing specific cells to fight disease or repair damaged tissue. This is focused on reprogramming the epigenome to restore capabilities that are often lost with age.

Its proprietary ERA Platform can reportedly be used to revitalize different cells throughout the body. The company is exploring its applicability across multiple therapeutic areas, including dermatologic conditions, immunology, osteoarthritis, and ophthalmology. The platform is claimed to enable control of the time, duration, and dosage of transcription factors to optimize the mRNA cocktail for each indication. This reportedly allows control of reprogramming, moving the epigenome to a more youthful state step-by-step by carefully pulsing the cell with the transcription factors.

The company claims to have discovered that the use of quiescent stem cells can significantly help to repair or replace specific types of damaged tissue. In these cases, the company reportedly deploys its Artificial Niche (AN) technology to protect the stem cells. AN technology combines stem-cell biology with biomolecular materials engineering and micro-fabrication technologies to generate novel cell-culture platforms that mimic crucial biochemical or structural aspects of the niche. turn.bio’s novel eTurna Platform can reportedly deliver a variety of cargoes requiring different routes of administration and be fine-tuned and targeted to specific tissue and cells.

Funding and financials

In July 2022, biotech company VitaDAO made a USD 1,000,000 investment into turn.bio. The investment was intended to fund turn.bio’s preclinical efficacy testing phase for mRNA therapeutics for dermatological and ophthalmological longevity research.